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| Deutsche Reichsbank | |
|---|---|
| Name | Deutsche Reichsbank |
| Founded | 1876 |
| Defunct | 1945 |
| Headquarters | Berlin, Reichstag |
| Succeeded by | Allied Control Council, Bank deutscher Länder, Deutsche Bundesbank |
Deutsche Reichsbank
The Deutsche Reichsbank was the central banking institution of the German Empire, the Weimar Republic, and Nazi Germany from 1876 to 1945, headquartered in Berlin near the Reichstag. It served as the issuer of currency, a regulator of credit, and an instrument of fiscal and monetary operations interacting with institutions such as the Reichsbankpräsidenten, the Reichsbankrat, and ministries like the Reich Ministry of Finance. Its operations intersected with events and entities including the Franco-Prussian War, World War I, the Treaty of Versailles, the Hyperinflation in the Weimar Republic, and World War II.
The Reichsbank was established in 1876 following reforms after the Zollverein period, succeeding private issuers and aligning with the Gold Standard and the monetary systems of the German Empire under the Kingdom of Prussia, the Chancellor Otto von Bismarck, and the Reichstag. During World War I, wartime finance and deficits tied the institution to the Reichsfinanzverwaltung and the Imperial Treasury, influencing postwar stabilization efforts culminating in the Dawes Plan and the Young Plan. The bank’s role evolved during the Weimar Republic amid political crises involving the Kapp Putsch, the Spartacist uprising, and the Occupation of the Ruhr, and later transformed under Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party into an instrument of rearmament and wartime finance, intersecting with agencies like the Reichsbankpräsident Hjalmar Schacht and the Reich Ministry for the Occupied Eastern Territories. Its legal termination followed Allied occupation in 1945 and subsequent financial reorganization by the Allied Control Council and the London Debt Agreement era.
The Reichsbank’s governance included a president, the Reichsbankrat supervisory board, regional branches across cities such as Hamburg, Munich, Frankfurt am Main, and Dresden, and liaison with entities like the Reichsbankpräsidenten office and the Reich Ministry of Finance. Key figures associated with its leadership included Adolf von Scholz, Hjalmar Schacht, and Walther Funk, while organizational change reflected interactions with the Reichstag, the Reichsgericht, and the Weimar Constitution. The bank maintained departments for note issuance, discounting, bullion and gold reserves linked to holdings in the Bank of England, credits to private institutions like Deutsche Bank and Dresdner Bank, and coordination with the Reichsmark fiscal apparatus and the Reichsschatzamt.
The Reichsbank conducted monetary policy through open market operations, discount rates, and reserve requirements that affected commercial institutions such as Commerzbank and the merchant banks. Its functions embraced issuance of the Reichsmark, management of gold and foreign exchange reserves involving counterparties like the Federal Reserve System and the Bank for International Settlements, and implementation of stabilization measures tied to programs like the Dawes Plan overseen by figures from Washington, D.C. and Paris. The institution’s tools were employed during crises linked to the Hyperinflation in the Weimar Republic and later during rearmament programs coordinated with the Four Year Plan and the Ministry of Economics.
The Reichsbank issued currency including coins and banknotes denominated in the Reichsmark and earlier the Goldmark, produced designs featuring national symbols shaped by artists and printers working with mints such as the Staatliche Münze Berlin and printing houses like Giesecke+Devrient. Banknote series and coinage responded to treaties and reforms such as the return to the Gold Standard after stabilization, the Rentenkreditwesen measures, and emergency currency issues during the Occupation of the Ruhr. Counterfeiting and currency controls involved cooperation with police organs like the Reichskriminalpolizeiamt and intelligence agencies including the Abwehr during wartime.
During the Weimar Republic the Reichsbank was central to responses to the Hyperinflation in the Weimar Republic, printing currency linked to reparations obligations from the Treaty of Versailles and the Inter-Allied Reparations Commission. Stabilization required international arrangements such as the Dawes Plan negotiated between delegates from United States, France, and Britain, and German institutions including the Reichsbank and the Reichsregierung. Measures involved coordination with banking houses like JP Morgan & Co. and public policy instruments enacted by the Reichstag and ministers such as Gustav Stresemann to restore the Rentenmark and later the Reichsmark under reformers including Hjalmar Schacht and advisors linked to the League of Nations financial committees.
Under Nazi Germany the Reichsbank’s independence was curtailed as it aligned with the Four Year Plan and rearmament policies directed by Hermann Göring and economic ministers like Hjalmar Schacht (until his dismissal) and Walther Funk. The bank facilitated credit expansion for entities such as the Reichswerke and industrial conglomerates like Krupp and I.G. Farben, and was implicated in financing wartime expenditures and occupation economics in territories like Poland and the General Government. Its operations intersected with institutions including the Reichsbankkonto, the Reichswirtschaftsministerium, and organizations involved in plunder and confiscation such as the SS and Reich Security Main Office.
Following Allied victory in May 1945, the Reichsbank was dissolved, its assets and functions taken over by the Allied Control Council, provisional bodies like the Bank deutscher Länder, and eventually by the Deutsche Bundesbank in the postwar Federal Republic of Germany. Legal and monetary legacies influenced postwar treaties including the Potsdam Agreement and financial settlements like the London Debt Agreement, while archival materials and controversies over gold, looted assets, and restitution involved investigations by institutions including the International Committee of the Red Cross and historical inquiries by scholars associated with universities such as Humboldt University of Berlin and University of Frankfurt am Main.
Category:Central banks Category:Economy of Germany Category:History of banking